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Math News & Events

New Faculty member – WESLEY HOUGH

August 2017

Please join us in welcoming Wesley Hough to the UW-W campus. Wesley has recently been hired as an Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department. He graduated with his B.A. in Mathematics & Economics from Hanover College and earned both his Masters and his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Kentucky. Wesley is also a Project Next Fellow for 2017. His primary research interests are in topological combinatorics, a subfield of mathematics devoted to using creative counting techniques to study multi-dimensional space. In particular, he uses discrete Morse theory to smoothly deform objects and study their most essential spatial properties. A classic example of what he does is thinking about how to morph a coffee mug into a doughnut. In his free time, Wesley likes to binge-watch crime dramas on Netflix with his cat, Cairo. He also enjoys reading, playing board and video games, and has recently taken up crochet.

New Faculty member – aditi ghosh

Please join us in welcoming Aditi Ghosh to the UW-W campus. Aditi has recently been hired as anAssistant Professor in theMathematics Department. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and did her post-doctorate work at Simon Fraser University and University of Idaho. Aditi’s research interest lies in Applied Mathematics with application in Bio-Mathematics. She is currently working on the mathematical modeling of Acetaminophen metabolism and liver injury, its overdose effect along with alcohol ingestion with Dr. Chris Remien and the Acute Liver Failure Study Group. In her free time, Aditi enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, and gardening.

COLLIN KANNENBERG REPRESENTS UW-WHITEWATER AT CONFERENCE

Collin Kannenberg is a mathematics major with an emphasis in statistics. His mentor is Dr. Khyam Paneru. Collin did a poster presentation at the Great Lakes Analytics in Sports Conference on July 13 entitled Hendricks vs. Scherzer: A Comparable Analysis Using Spin Rates and Pitch Tunneling. Following is the description included in the conference program: “The 2016 MLB season witnessed some incredible pitching from the entire league. There was much attention paid to the National League Cy Young Award race in particular. The front running candidates included the Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester, and Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer.This presentation focuses on the comparison between Hendricks and Scherzer. Hendricks made his name by putting up an incredible ERA among other surface-level stats. Scherzer on the other hand did not have as good surface-level stats as Hendricks, yet won the Cy Young Award. This presentation compares both pitchers by the use of spin rates and pitch tunneling data courtesy of Baseball Savant and Baseball Prospectus, respectively. By looking into how these pitchers compare in these two metrics, it gives a better illustration of what pitcher is more difficult to hit. Surface-level stats such as ERA, WHIP, and HR/9 among others give an overall description of how a pitcher is doing, but does not consider the pitches themselves and how difficult they are to hit.The Cy Young award should go to the pitcher that is most difficult to hit during the course of the entire season, and that pitcher was Max Scherzer.”

Congratulations to Our 2017 Math Scholarship Awardees

Mathematics scholarships for 2017-18 were awarded to continuing students at the Science and Mathematics Scholarship and Awards Ceremony on April 20, 2017. The awardees were:

Math students present undergraduate research results

Five UW-Whitewater math majors were among the students making presentations at the Fall Undergraduate Research Day on September 27, held in the Hamilton Center at the UC.

Ryan Schroeder presented his work, "Quantum Mechanics and Mathematical Biology." Ryan's faculty mentors are Leon Arriola in the Mathematics Department and Paul House in the Chemistry Department.

Robert (Noah) Padgett presented "Antibiotic Resistance in Beef Cattle: The Effects of Culling and Quarantine." This is an independently funded project. Noah's faculty mentors are Christopher Kribs, University of Texas-Arlington; Leon Arriola, UW-Whitewater Mathematics Department; and Feresteh Nazari, Arizona State University.

Alissa Zawacki, a Psychology major, and Noah Padgett co-presented "Assessing Intervention Effectiveness in Walworth County's Health and Human Services." Their faculty mentor is Meg Waraczynski of the Department of Psychology.

Brent Zey, who is majoring in Economics, French, and Mathematics-Statistics, presented "Importance of Access to Financing for Small Businesses in Wisconsin." Brent's faculty advisor is Eylem Ersal-Kiziler of the Department of Economics (College of Business and Economics).

Ravon Bonds, a McNair Scholar, presented "Perceived Reliability of Consumer Ratings and Reviews." Ravon's faculty mentor is Robert Boostrom of the Marketing department (College of Business and Economics).

Antwanette Bounds, a McNair Scholar, presented "Self-Efficacy in Mathematics." Antwanette's faculty Mentor is Laura Porterfield from the Department of Educational Foundations (College of Education and Professional Studies).

UW-W math majors present at MAA Wisconsin section meeting

APRIL 22-23, 2016

Three math majors presented the results of their undergraduate research projects at the MAA Wisconsin section meeting held at UW La Crosse, April 22-23, 2016.

Freshman Eric Lawson, mentored by Dr. Pawel Felcyn, presented "The Complete Bell Polynomial of a Product." Robert (Noah) Padgett, a junior with a double major in mathematics and psychology and mentored by Dr. Khyam Paneru, presented "Zero-Inflated Populations in Applications: Examples, Analysis, and Modeling." Jon Scott, a senior with a computer science minor mentored by Dr. Xueqing Chen, presented "Representation Theory of Quivers: Approach from Linear Algebra and Abstract Algebra." The projects were supported by the university's Office of Undergraduate Research; in particular, Eric Lawson and Noah Padgett received a grant from the Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).

UWW's team of Evan Czysz, Joshua Day, Padgett, and Scott Pegelow placed second out of 10 teams in the "Face-Off" competition, a Jeopardy-style contest. Seven students and 6 faculty/academic staff from the mathematics department attended the conference. UW-Whitewater mathematics instructor Thomas Drucker, past Chair of the WI Section, also gave a presentation on "An Instance of John Wallis."

UW-Whitewater hosted the Section Meetings in 2014 and 2006.

2016 Mathematics Scholarship Awardees

APRIL 21, 2016

Mathematics scholarships for 2016-17 were awarded to continuing students at the Science and Mathematics Scholarship and Awards Ceremony on April 21, 2016. The awardees were:

College-level awards will be presented at a later date. Mathematics students who received awards in this category include Evan Czysz, the Letters and Sciences Promise Endowment; Regan McCauley (math education), the Metcalf Family Scholarship; Robert (Noah) Padgett, the Letters and Sciences Promise Endowment; Brent Zey, the Dahle Family Memorial Scholarship; and Drew Zeimetz, the Chuck and Martha Heinrich Scholarship.